Gilded Rattle
by Emma95
Summary: After their two-year separation, Jane and Lisbon meet again only to find out that they both feel as if not a day passed. However, as more secrets come to the surface, they realize that things between them are not quite as clear. (AU: CBI is still in operation, but now controlled by the FBI. Jane, Lisbon, Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt are still a team!) Rated T for now.


**Gilded Rattle**

**AU: Parick Jane has killed Red John(just like it happened in 6x08), but the CBI was not closed down, it's just that now it is controlled by the FBI. Lisbon has to justify every action of hers to special agent Dennis Abbot, something she doesn't like at all. Jane was gone for two years and when he came back, the FBI wanted him to work for them, but after the trick he played on them(the one he used in 6x10), he got himself assigned on Lisbon's team. Kim Fischer is also in the picture, but has a less important role here.) **

Chapter 1

The morning sky was not yet filled with the sun's welcoming light and instead, clouds were forming on the horizon. The usually beautiful and breathtaking view of the William Land Park was soaked by the sad image of a girl that death had found quite too early in her life.

"Ok, Cho. Victim's name is Linda Turner, a vet at the local pet center. She's coming from a rich background, basically the only one in the family that aspired to a different career other than the family business, which has to deal with selling furs". Lisbon's voice was steady, professional. She was facing quite a struggle not to sound sleepy.

Cho, her reliable teammate, was taking notes by her side.

"Jane, any foreseeing into the case?" Lisbon asked her perspicacious consultant.

When she didn't get an answer, she turned to face him.

"Jane?"

He was looking at the poor girl's body, lost in his thoughts. The morning breeze made his golden curls swirl on his head, but he didn't look any less of an angel than he did the other days. His expression didn't reveal much of what he could possibly be mulling over, but she knew Patrick Jane enough to understand that he was thinking about his daughter, Charlotte.

She looked at the girl again, following his stare. Blond hair, slim body. She seemed to be around twenty four or twenty five. Jane's daughter could look like that if she had the chance to live longer. She was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of sadness and compassion towards her damaged friend. Should she tell him to lay off this case? Was this too much for him?

"Well…" Jane finally said, bringing her back to reality. "Apparently, this young girl went against her parents", he assumed. His voice was calm and unfathomable as always. No hint of the demons that belonged to his tragic past.

A past that they had yet to talk about_. _

Lisbon's thoughts started drifting to a dark place, a place that neither she nor Jane had been willing to visit since the moment he came back from his extensive vacation. However, avoidance had only resulted in her feeling more and more worried about him.

She couldn't help, but wonder about the nature of the thoughts that crossed his mind moments like this.

He had killed or rather struggled to death a man that he's been hunting for ten years. He had finally taken his revenge and yet she knew him enough to understand that he was not yet fully recovered.

"So what do you suggest? An animal defender?" she asked, a little furrow forming between her eyebrows.

Jane had already considered that.

"No, no. Look at that leather belt. Grace, isn't that made of animal skin?" he asked, pointing the belt with his finger.

Grace took a few steps closer to Linda's body so as to have a better look.

"Yes" she admitted. There was the slightest hint of a frown on her forehead. As if she didn't know what to make of this.

"Now, wouldn't you expect an animal defender to be more careful with this kinda stuff? Ergo, we have to do with a common rebel" he concluded. "Seems like our victim didn't look up to her father much" he added.

Lisbon felt an urge of irritation. "How can you tell that?" she demanded.

Patrick stared at her as if she was missing something that was brighter than the sun.

"Well, aside from the fact that usually the family business is run by the father, you can notice the necklace she's wearing. Look at it closely" he said. He bent over the body to pull the chain of the necklace, revealing a silver ring hidden under the girl's clothes.

Lisbon threw him her confused and somewhat irritated look, so he cared to go on explaining his theory.

"Doesn't this seem expensive to you? Anyway, not the kind of ring a girl would buy for herself, so clearly a gift from her fiancé" he guessed.

"Good point, but why does this have anything to do with her being not so fond of her father?" asked Lisbon, disbelief and sarcasm clear in her tone.

Jane looked at her and half smiled with mischief. She prepared to make some rude comment, when he abruptly turned to Grace.

"Tell me Grace" he initiated, "why would a girl choose to put an engagement ring on a necklace rather than her finger?"

"Be able to flirt with other guys?" Grace assumed.

"That's right. Obviously, our victim had commitment issues and my experience has taught me that those girls are the kind of ones that are raised by an authoritorian figure. She couldn't stand her father's superiority, so she rebelled against him the moment she legally became an adult" he explained.

"Why not earlier?" Rigsby asked, taking an interest into the case for the first time that dull morning.

"She chose to become a vet, which is a mature thing to do. A teenager would have used drugs or alcohol" Jane immediately answered.

Everyone went silent for a moment. The works of Jane's mind always had everyone speechless. Lisbon was the first to respond, not willing to boost his cockiness anymore than usual.

"Ok, it's a theory. Let's start from finding the fiancé, if she actually has one", she ordered, the last sentence being an innuendo towards Jane, who half smiled in response. "Jane and I will talk to the parents" she continued.

"Will do, boss", Cho reassured her.

The Turners resided in a beautiful mansion across Sacramento River. Jane and Lisbon's movements were synced as they paused to take in the view for a moment. The yard was filled with strangely shaped bushes and colorful flowers, all carefully organized in order to show off the greater ornament, the villa.

Jane peeped at Lisbon to read her reaction. He knew that she secretly yearned to be a princess. This place could be her palace, he thought. He couldn't help but genuinely smile when he caught the dreamer expression on her face. Uhh, she was probably thinking the same.

However, as much as he expected her reactions, the same didn't apply for his response to them. Right now, he was overwhelmed by the strong desire to give her what she wanted however unrealistic that might be. He wanted her to be happy and although he wouldn't entirely admit it to himself, he wanted it to be him that would give her this happiness. Yet, he knew that he was the last person that Teresa Lisbon would rely on upon her happiness. And she was right. He was not reliable. He was a con man, a fraud. She deserved better than that.

That moment, Lisbon felt his intense stare and turned to him while putting her defences up. He just pretended to focus on the case.

If the exterior of the house could be described as heavenly, the inside of it reminded of hell. Laid with plain, conservative gear, the house seemed completely void of warmth or friendliness. Even for a family that dealt with fashion, Jane thought, you would expect some more decoration or at least, furniture. But, apparently, the owners were of the old-fashioned, censorious and puritanical kind of people; the kind Jane especially found tiresome and dull.

His trained eyes inspected the surroundings in his characteristic innocent; childish query.

His interest was captured by a gilded rattle laying on the floor aside the entrance table. He bent towards it in order to pick it up; mischief displayed in his eyes.

"Jane, don't touch anything!" ordered Lisbon, dejected at the aristocratic appearance of the mansion.

Jane paid no attention to her complaining. As he retrieved the toy, he cradled it, filling the empty hall with a jingling orchestra. Lisbon rolled her eyes in irritation.

Right then, an elegant woman appeared on the top of the staircase that reared in the middle of the room. She was hardly pleased at the sound, much less at the presence of the man who caused it. Jane gave her his disarming smile, mildly infiltrating her irritation; a trick he had noticed to never work on Lisbon to his great disappointment.

"Excuse me, sir. I don't think I gave you permission to conduct mischief in my property", she dictated in a clearly refined tone.

The wily consultant frowned at the excessive formality emanating from the woman's words.

"I'm sorry, ma'am", Lisbon hurried to apologize. "He's with me. We're with the Californian Bureau of Investigation. I'm Agent Teresa Lisbon. This is Patrick Jane, he's a consultant. I'm sorry, ma'am; but I have to ask. Have you heard from your daughter lately?"

The woman's expression went from annoyed to confused in no seconds.

"Linda? No. Why? Has anything happened to her?" she asked.

"She's dead", Jane said in a straight manner, while observing her reaction.

"Your consultant could have been gentler with her, instead of slapping the events in her face. Who informs a mother of her daughter's death in such a cold-hearted manner?" Mr. Turner was complaining.

Mrs. Turner had been shedding tears from the moment her daughter's death was announced to her. A servant girl was trying to keep her calm, measuring her pressure and providing her with cold water now and then. Lisbon knew exactly who to blame for her current situation aside from the killer. Jane had once again managed to cause trouble, leaving her to deal with an angry aristocratic husband.

"The sooner she would find out, the sooner she'd learn to accept it", Jane said to defend himself. "My question to you is… Why aren't you upset?"

"What?"

"She was your daughter, too; and yet you've barely shed a tear, unlike your wife", Jane noted.

"I like to keep my feelings to myself I guess", the man countered.

"Sir, I have to ask, where were you this morning between 2 and 4 a.m.?" Lisbon interrupted.

"I was sleeping. My wife can assure you for that", he answered.

Lisbon nodded condescendingly and turned away to question the staff of the house. Jane stopped her midway, his fingers slightly stroking hers. The agent tried to ignore the electric current that penetrated her whole body at their accidental touch. Instead, she focused on his face, her heart throbbing in her chest as his eyes captured hers momentarily. Then, as if he was having second thoughts, he turned away, dismissing her. Lisbon didn't know what to make of it and saw it as another one of his wily plans to drive her crazy. She heaved a sigh of weariness and walked past him.


End file.
